diff --git a/infino/README.md b/infino/README.md
index 608772349f..5c5752d64e 100644
--- a/infino/README.md
+++ b/infino/README.md
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ queries, so `tuned=no`.
 ```
 
 The release build is portable (no `-C target-cpu`), pinned to a published crate
-version (`infino = "0.5.3"`) so the result is reproducible from crates.io alone.
+version (`infino = "0.5.6"`) so the result is reproducible from crates.io alone.
 LTO is sized to the machine by `install`: fat LTO + `codegen-units = 1` at
 >= 12 GiB RAM (its single-pass link peaks ~7.6 GB), thin LTO below so the small
 VMs still build. Reads use strong consistency, so a query issued right after
diff --git a/infino/bench/Cargo.lock b/infino/bench/Cargo.lock
index 48581ddf70..c37d47f8a0 100644
--- a/infino/bench/Cargo.lock
+++ b/infino/bench/Cargo.lock
@@ -2105,9 +2105,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "infino"
-version = "0.5.3"
+version = "0.5.6"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "ea5d9748bffe8ce05ac249d73fc70105a6cc5a6ccb7552a5d17e6c2b55f1d329"
+checksum = "e37028176fb7e2970f0220a1caec8801713c3b358cef842dd12cd566e3464860"
 dependencies = [
  "apache-avro",
  "arc-swap",
diff --git a/infino/bench/Cargo.toml b/infino/bench/Cargo.toml
index f8ba202b7e..74895f9198 100644
--- a/infino/bench/Cargo.toml
+++ b/infino/bench/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ name = "clickbench-infino"
 path = "src/main.rs"
 
 [dependencies]
-infino = "0.5.3"
+infino = "0.5.6"
 arrow = { version = "58", features = ["prettyprint"] }
 arrow-array = "58"
 arrow-schema = "58"
diff --git a/infino/bench/src/main.rs b/infino/bench/src/main.rs
index b804f3c2e4..5c203ee6b0 100644
--- a/infino/bench/src/main.rs
+++ b/infino/bench/src/main.rs
@@ -36,13 +36,17 @@ use arrow_schema::{DataType, Field, Schema, SchemaRef};
 use parquet::arrow::arrow_reader::ParquetRecordBatchReaderBuilder;
 
 use infino::{
-    connect_with, CompactionSettings, ConnectOptions, Consistency, IndexSpec, OptimizeOptions,
+    connect_with, CompactionSettings, ConnectOptions, Consistency, GcSettings, IndexSpec,
+    OptimizeOptions,
 };
 
 type R<T> = Result<T, Box<dyn Error>>;
 
 const BATCH_ROWS: usize = 1_000_000;
 
+/// Safety gap for the load's own garbage collection.
+const GC_SAFETY_GAP_SECS: u64 = 1;
+
 fn uri() -> String {
     env::var("INFINO_URI").unwrap_or_else(|_| "./data".to_string())
 }
@@ -177,6 +181,9 @@ fn load() -> R<()> {
 /// of one large file plus small leftovers. min_fill_percent is dropped to 1 so
 /// a one-shot optimize actually merges the small tail rather than leaving it.
 fn optimize_options() -> OptimizeOptions {
+    // Reclaim the files this optimize supersedes instead of leaving them for a later sweep.
+    // The cost adds in "load" time.
+    let gc = GcSettings::default().with_safety_gap(Duration::from_secs(GC_SAFETY_GAP_SECS));
     match env::var("INFINO_TARGET_SF_MB")
         .ok()
         .and_then(|s| s.parse::<u64>().ok())
@@ -186,8 +193,9 @@ fn optimize_options() -> OptimizeOptions {
             min_fill_percent: 1,
             max_memory_mb: mb + 2048,
             ..Default::default()
-        }),
-        None => OptimizeOptions::default(),
+        })
+        .with_gc(gc),
+        None => OptimizeOptions::default().with_gc(gc),
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/infino/results/20260818/c6a.4xlarge.json b/infino/results/20260818/c6a.4xlarge.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fd4f8040dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infino/results/20260818/c6a.4xlarge.json
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+{
+      "system": "Infino",
+      "date": "2026-08-18",
+      "machine": "c6a.4xlarge",
+      "cluster_size": 1,
+      "proprietary": "no",
+      "hardware": "cpu",
+      "tuned": "no",
+      "tags": ["Rust","column-oriented","search"],
+      "load_time": 1138,
+      "data_size": 9842040660,
+      "concurrent_qps": null,
+      "concurrent_error_ratio": null,
+      "result": [
+        [0.583, 0.006, 0.006],
+        [0.802, 0.03, 0.029],
+        [1.245, 0.068, 0.067],
+        [1.968, 0.06, 0.057],
+        [1.941, 0.586, 0.555],
+        [1.602, 0.629, 0.628],
+        [0.653, 0.006, 0.006],
+        [0.802, 0.032, 0.035],
+        [2.343, 0.718, 0.722],
+        [3.927, 0.743, 0.764],
+        [2.615, 0.226, 0.226],
+        [2.627, 0.259, 0.267],
+        [1.526, 0.754, 0.725],
+        [4.276, 1.126, 1.127],
+        [1.527, 0.762, 0.75],
+        [2.191, 0.641, 0.65],
+        [4.166, 1.413, 1.422],
+        [3.996, 1.387, 1.415],
+        [5.703, 2.123, 2.166],
+        [0.906, 0.037, 0.034],
+        [5.868, 1.36, 1.382],
+        [7.696, 1.287, 1.209],
+        [10.684, 1.978, 1.981],
+        [1.625, 0.197, 0.209],
+        [1.821, 0.251, 0.239],
+        [1.674, 0.412, 0.413],
+        [1.826, 0.297, 0.298],
+        [6.657, 1.218, 1.239],
+        [5.911, 3.9, 3.91],
+        [0.677, 0.06, 0.058],
+        [4.706, 0.876, 0.877],
+        [9.644, 1.083, 1.056],
+        [7.866, 2.494, 2.498],
+        [6.167, 3.099, 3.048],
+        [6.146, 3.057, 3.071],
+        [1.634, 0.522, 0.527],
+        [0.834, 0.061, 0.058],
+        [0.788, 0.037, 0.032],
+        [0.794, 0.031, 0.031],
+        [0.889, 0.097, 0.099],
+        [0.778, 0.021, 0.024],
+        [0.773, 0.02, 0.019],
+        [0.766, 0.017, 0.016]
+]
+  }